This is Part 2/2 on Cider Rite of Spring 2017 in Portland Oregon, which includes tasting notes on the 18 ciders I tried. See HERE for Part 1/2, covering the event itself. Note that I have more notes on some ciders than others depending on how much of it I tried and what was going on at the event (kinda tough to take notes with one hand while holding on to your tasting glass in the other!)…its not a reflection on the cider itself.

^ 5 Cider (Portland OR) Strawbasaurus Hop, 6.9% ABV, $6/500ml: This is a flagship hopped strawberry cider, and the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Dry to semi-dry. Light bodied with a lot of foam. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Moderate bitterness. I couldn’t get past how overly hoppy the flavor was. The light strawberry flavor with the intense hopped flavor was also odd. I think hops are nice to enhance a cider’s flavor, but I don’t like when they overpower it.

7 Bev / Queen Orchard (West Linn OR) Green Man, 6.7% ABV, draft only: This cider is for the Willamette Ale & Cider House, expected to open in West Linn Oregon on June 15th, and is the first I’ve tried from the cidery. It was described as inspired by English cider, but I found it more farmhouse-style than anything else (none of the characteristic tannins of English cider). Hazy hue. Smells of sulfur, sourness, and funk, but those qualities oddly enough didn’t transfer to the flavor. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Medium bodied. Low tartness. Low to moderate acidity. Apple-forward with citrus notes. Nice flavor, but the scent was off-putting. It could be a first production issue.

Alter Ego Cider (Portland OR) The Guardian Angel, 6.5% ABV, $8/500ml: This is a flagship blueberry pomegranate cider, and the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Dark berry hue. Semi-sweet to sweet. Medium bodied. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. High flavor intensity, with blueberry, pomegranate, and grape, but not much apple. High sessionability. Juice-like. Reminds me of Atlas’ ciders. I liked it.

Bauman’s Cider (Gervais OR) Peach Raspberry, 6.4% ABV, $12/22oz: This summer seasonal cider adds peaches and raspberries, and is the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Medium bodied. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Moderate to high flavor intensity, with rather straight-forward peach and raspberry notes. Well balanced with a lot of flavor without being too sweet. I really enjoyed it.

Elk Horn Brewery (Eugene OR) Grape Perry, 6.0% ABV, draft only: This is a perry made from dessert pears, sweetened with Concord grape juice, and the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Semi-dry. Light bodied. Very light fruity flavor, primarily grape. I was expecting a sweeter more flavorful cider between the pear (unfermentable sugars typically lead to a higher residual sugar content even if fermentation isn’t stopped early) and grape, although you can tell even from the color than not a lot of grape juice was used.

Elk Horn Brewery (Eugene OR) Cherry’s Pie, 7.5% ABV, draft only: This is a cider with cherries added. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. I found the flavor a bit weird…kinda bitter…but I just had a sip or two shared with me.

Finnriver (Port Townsend WA) Apply Ol’ Fashion cocktail, VIP offering: Made with Finnriver’s Spirited Apple Wine (brandy-fortified cider, 18.5% ABV, $25/500ml) and Oak and Apple cider (6.5% ABV, $10/500ml). I’ve previously had both ciders on their own, but I didn’t like this cocktail in the least, and neither did my husband or friend, as none of us are fans of bitters. Its likely the proportions may have got off since they made this rather rushed…it was quite an undertaking to serve a non-pre-mixed cocktail at a busy event like this. They were also offering pours of just the Apple Wine, which is what I should have chosen. See my Oak and Apple review here. My favorite from Finnriver however is their Fire Barrel (see here); this year’s vintage was just released, and it is a great value at ~$11/500ml.

Pear UP (formerly NV Cider, East Wenatchee WA) Raspberry Perry, unknown ABV, $5/500ml: This is a perry (only pears, no apples) with raspberries. Semi-sweet to semi-dry. Nice moderate to strong fresh raspberry flavor with a hint of pear. Refreshingly flavorful. I was surprised how much more flavorful this was compared to their Watermelon Perry, as it is only slightly more sweet. I like the flavor intensity of this best of all their perries I’ve tried, but the watermelon flavor remains my favorite (I’m a huge watermelon fan).

Reverend Nat’s (Portland OR) New Moon Mandarin, 7.2% ABV, $7/500ml: This seasonal cider is made with mandarin and tangerine juice, and finished with chamomile flowers. Dry. Light bodied. High tartness. Moderate acidity. Very mild citrus flavor. Warm boozy finish. This was nice, but more subtle than I prefer.

Runcible Cider (Mosier OR) Light of the Moon, 8.1% ABV, $17/750ml: This is their flagship cider made using heirloom apple varieties, and the first I’ve tried from this cidery. Hazy hue. Semi-dry. Low tartness, bitterness, and tannins. Moderate acidity. Hints of sourness and funk. found this to be a slightly farmhouse-style apple-forward cider with some honey and citrus notes. I liked it.

Runcible Cider (Mosier OR) Old Hoot, 7.4% ABV, $17/750ml: This is their Farmhouse-style cider, made with English cider apple varieties. Very hazy hue. Dry. Moderate tartness and acidity. Low funk and tannins. Hints of sourness. This was well made, but a bit too rustic for my liking.

Shoutout to Kelly McCune of Runcible Cider – she had actually heard of Cider Says prior to the event, and said she likes my blog – very cool! They are a brand new cidery (this was their first event) and have their own orchard of 500 cider apple trees, which is awesome, as so many cideries actually aren’t orchard-based. I think it takes a cidery’s cider to the next level.

Square Mile Cider (Portland OR) Rosé, unknown ABV, draft only, VIP offering: This special release cider was made with hibiscus and rose hips. Semi-dry to dry. Light bodied. High tartness. Moderate acidity. Very light fruitiness, with floral and herbal notes. This was nice, but more subtle than I prefer.

Swift Cider (Portland OR) Marionberry, 6.8% ABV, $8/22oz: This is a dry flagship cider with marionberries, and the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Dry to semi-dry. Light bodied. Low berry flavor intensity. This was nice, but more subtle than I prefer.

Tumalo Cider (Tumalo OR) Prickly Passion, unknown ABV, $6/500ml: This is the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Semi-dry to dry. Light bodied. Moderate tartness and acidity. Very low fruity flavor intensity. This was nice, but more subtle than I prefer.

Tumalo Cider (Tumalo OR) Hibiscus, unknown ABV, $6/500ml: Semi-dry to dry. Light bodied. Moderate tartness acidity. Low flavor intensity, more fruity than floral. Slightly more flavorful than the Prickly Passion. This was nice, but more subtle than I prefer.

Woodbox (Portland OR) Double Barrel Whiskey Barrel Ice Cider, 12.7% ABV, $17/375ml: This is a ice cider (made by using freezing temperatures to naturally concentrate the flavor and sugar content in apple juice before fermenting it) aged in whiskey barrels, and the first I’ve tried from the cidery. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Full bodied. Low to moderate tartness and acidity. Low tannins. Rich flavor notes including caramel and vanilla. High apple flavor. Moderate to high whiskey flavor. Moderate oak flavor. Awesome! They made a sign to highlight the cider’s price as the program had a mis-print of $33, which is quite a difference.

The ice cider was an especially good value too (often they run $30+ as they are so expensive to make), and the only bottle we ended up picking up (although our friend bought a number of ciders).

Of the non-specialty ciders, I most enjoyed Alter Ego Guardian Angel, Bauman’s Peach Raspberry, Pear UP Raspberry Perry, and Runcible Light of the Moon.

I was surprised how many dry ciders were being offered, and especially how many cideries were only offering dry ciders, which is nice. However, especially when made from dessert apples, dry ciders can often end up very subtlety flavored, while I prefer a really in-your-face flavorful cider (whether an added flavor or due to use of cider apples). I usually go for semi-dry to semi-sweet, as they tend to be more flavorful, but not too sweet.

There were also a number of cideries breaking from the pack and going more Farmhouse-style (like Runcible and Baird & Dewar), which isn’t typically as crowd-pleasing, but sticks to the roots of early American cider.

There were plenty of sweet offerings too, but mostly from the more established / larger cideries that I had already sampled (like Portland Cider Co., and the Seattle-area’s own Locust and Schilling cideries).

That will do it for Cider Rite of Spring 2017. Stay tuned for more tasting notes from my Portland trip, from Reverend Nat’s tap room and Bushwhacker Cider!

This past weekend I attended the 4th annual Cider Rite of Spring cider tasting event in Portland Oregon. My husband and I drove down from Seattle (about 4 hours away) and stayed overnight. It was a whirlwind with a lot of driving in two days, but fun. This is the first of a series of posts about my Portland cider weekend, and will cover the event itself, with a forthcoming post with tasting notes on the ciders I tried. Also refer to my preview of the event here.

Overview:

This cider tasting event was held from noon to 6pm on a Saturday at a three-story indoor event space near downtown Portland (The Evergreen PDX). It featured nearly 100 ciders from 31 cideries. The event cost $25-$45, depending on if you purchased a regular or VIP ticket, and pre sale vs. at the door. Entry included 8 drink tickets and a tasting glass. VIP tickets also included access to an upstairs VIP lounge. Each cidery had a booth with a cidery representative pouring 1-4 ciders, a mix of draft and bottle pours.

The event was hosted by the Northwest Cider Association, and also served as a fundraiser for the organization, which aims to bring cideries and cider lovers together to share knowledge, experience, and live the Northwest cider culture. They promote cider and sponsor classes, workshops, events, and more.

My experience:

I arrived a bit past noon with my husband and a friend of ours who lives out of state that we don’t get to see often enough (her parents live in Portland so she visits often). There was a line to get in when they opened, as it required the typical ID check, wristband application, and check in (printed tickets vs. will call tickets vs. ticket sales). We stayed about four hours total, tried over a dozen ciders, and bought some bottles to take home.

The VIP lounge on the top floor.

My favorite parts:

The hourly VIP tastings. They were all exclusive and/or rare releases, listed in the event program, and only being poured in the VIP area. Each hour featured a different cidery and cider to taste, no tickets required. The VIP lounge also included snacks (mostly cheese chosen to be paired with cider from Whole Foods) and some cider options available the entire time (although the one I tried was literally just cider apple juice, not fermented?).

Getting to try Oregon ciders which I don’t see in Washington, from cideries which don’t even distribute out of Oregon yet. Several cideries hadn’t even had their official launch yet.

The bottle shop. Many of the offerings were sold in the bottle shop (except some draft-only options). It was regular retail price, but proceeds went to the Northwest Cider Association, and many are difficult or impossible to find in stores.

The event was well-planned. There was sufficient information available online beforehand. There was sufficient signage and it was laid out well, although squished. The venue was nice besides the size, and indoors, so no weather to deal with. It was even decorated with fresh flowers (very Spring-like). They had water and non-alcoholic cider available, and jars to dump unwanted cider into.

Affordable ticket prices, as low as $25 plus a couple dollars in fees for pre-sales.

The bottle shop offerings.

My least favorite parts:

The crowds! It was literally elbow to elbow push & shove to get anywhere in the building, verging on dangerous. At first the air conditioning wasn’t even on so it was starting to get very hot with all the bodies in the small space, but thankfully that kicked in after awhile. Apparently this was a new venue for this year and they had approximately double the attendees as last year (900), so significantly more than they were expecting. However, I really think they should have capped ticket sales before it got that bad. There is already talk of a larger venue for next year. I don’t mind lines (especially as it ensures you don’t drink too quickly and encourages you to talk to folks you are in line with), but it was difficult to even know where lines were, and to get between them. There were less chances to talk to the cidery folks as someone was always behind you waiting. Even the VIP lounge was overcrowded, which defeated part of its purpose. This was tied for the most crowded tasting event I’ve ever been to.

Lack of seating, or even standing tables to set down your glass and take notes.

No early entry for VIP ticket holders. Often events let you in an hour early, which is nice to get one-on-one time with cidermakers. I had been hoping to get that in the VIP lounge, but it was busy there too.

The event space and crowds.

The in between:

Pours were on the smaller side. This can be good or bad…it enables you to try more ciders without feeling like you have to drink more than you want to or dump some out to try more, but it is easy to run out of tickets quickly (extras were being sold for $2 each).

This was a medium sized event. Less options than the Cider Summit events for example (which also typically includes some imports and aren’t as regional, with cideries outside of just Oregon & Washington for the Seattle event for example), but more than Summer Cider Day in Port Townsend WA.

Lack of food options. The only option was sushi, which seemed an odd choice as many folks don’t like it, and usually more carb-rich foods are better to go with alcohol. There weren’t however any lines for food as is typical at events, as it was a quick prep item (and possibly as there was less interest than typical food offerings). It was also priced low, especially for sushi. However, this was announced in advance, so it wasn’t an issue; we ate lunch before the event and I always travel with snacks.

The downtown location. This enabled us to stay at a hotel which was a cheap Uber ride to the event, restaurants, and cider bars, However, hotel prices and parking are more expensive downtown.

Event map and VIP tasting schedule.

My general cider tasting event tips:

As with any event, it is best to arrive early. If you arrive 5-10 minutes before it starts, you can be among the first in line and get some cider tasting in before the space fills up.

Wear comfortable closed toe shoes. Although there may not be much walking involved, there is typically a lot of standing. I was surprised how many women I saw wearing heels and/or sandals. I’m not a fan of having my feet hurting and toes stepped on…

Eat beforehand and bring some snacks. Crackers are a good choice to absorb alcohol and cleanse your palette. Not having to stop and eat a meal can save time as well (although sometimes taking a decent break is nice too).

Bring a bottle of water, although often it is easy enough to fill your tasting glass with provided water between ciders.

Bring a pen/pencil, and possibly a notebook. You may want to at least note on the program what ciders you don’t want to miss, which you enjoyed and want to purchase bottles of (or if you are like me, take tasting notes).

If possible, plan what ciders you want to try ahead of time. It is unfortunately impossible to try everything. They didn’t release the cider list in advance this time, but I looked through it off the bat to get an idea of what I wanted to taste. I suggest prioritizing ciders that are expensive, special releases, and/or not found in your area. If possible, taste from dry and simple to sweet and weird. What you taste before another cider can impact the next. At least however avoid spicy (hot) ciders until the end of the day, as those wreck the palette the most.

Consider trying multiple ciders from the same cidery/booth. That gives you a good idea of the range of the cidery’s options. Often they will pour you a smaller sample of each offering for a single ticket if you ask / if they aren’t too busy.

If they will have a bottle shop, bring a bag you can put some ciders in, and/or a bottle bag. At this event they were selling them for $5, or giving them away with the purchase of 6 bottles. We ended up buying some ciders midway through the event as we weren’t sure if they would sell out, so a backpack was handy to keep our hands free.

For outdoor events, bring a sun hat, sunblock, and a jacket.

Bottom line:

I liked the cider aspect of the event of course, especially all the new-to-me Oregon ciders/cideries, and the VIP tasting opportunities were awesome. However, I wouldn’t consider attending this event again unless they were going to hold it at a much larger venue with some breathing room and seating. I have every confidence they will remedy this for next year.

I really do like the indoor events though, as for me alcohol + sun/heat isn’t a good combination, and indoor toilets always beat port-a-pottys. Besides a larger venue, another option for them may be to split it into two sessions (with ticket sales for a specific session), which should then half the crowds.

Next time we do Portland we’ll definitely stay at least 2 nights and take some time off work. Doing the drive on two days in a row is rough, and made for a very long day to drive, attend the event, and go out that night. Plus now I’ve been playing catch up all week with all my usual weekend stuff, like house chores and blog posts.

Square Mile had a tiny house on display outside that they will be giving away in a contest…it must have been interesting to navigate downtown and park the large pickup truck with trailer!

Event program:

Stay tuned for Cider Rite of Spring 2017 post 2/2 covering tasting notes (NOW AVAILABLE – see here), as well as posts about my visits to Reverend Nat’s tap room and Bushwhacker Cider.

This year I’m excited to be planning to attend a new-to-me event Cider Rite of Spring, on March 25th 2017 in Portland Oregon. The 4th annual event is presented by the Northwest Cider Association. Cider Rite of Spring has been named “The Best NW Cider Festival” by SIP Northwest Magazine.

Date/Time/Location: Saturday March 25th 2017, noon to 6pm, at The Evergreen ballroom (618 Southeast Alder Street) in Portland Oregon; this is a new venue for this year, and all indoors

Admission: $25 or $40* (tickets sold here), which includes 8 tasting tickets and a tasting glass; this is a 21+ event only

*$40 is for VIP admission, which has the same start time, but includes access to the VIP lounge, with complimentary cheese pairings by Whole Foods and one-on-one interaction with 6 PNW cidermakers who will share a special cider offering for tasting and purchase only to VIP ticket holders

Bottle Shop: Yes – many ciders will be available to purchase bottles of to take home.

Food: Available for purchase from Wasabi Sushi

My Notes: I’ve never tried ciders from 10 of the 30 cideries (many are Oregon cideries which don’t yet distribute to Washington). My husband and I plan to make a weekend of it, driving down from Seattle on the morning of the event and staying overnight in a local hotel. The location near downtown is great as we can park the car once and take The Max or an Uber to the event and dinner.